Broadcom Intros SerDes

IRVINE, Calif. -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), the leading provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications, today announced two new Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) products -- the Broadcom(R) BCM8020 eight-channel multi-rate transceiver and BCM8040 eight-channel multi-rate retimer/switch. With current economic conditions forcing equipment designers to reduce product development costs, these new SerDes devices will permit Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to extend the life of legacy backplanes without jeopardizing performance. The BCM8020 and BCM8040 can increase transmission speed over existing backplanes by 2 times, 4 times, or even up to 8 times, and enable higher capacity and faster system upgrades while preserving the existing installed chassis base. Backplanes provide the main interconnection between the server chassis and the rest of the network. The BCM8020 and BCM8040 were developed using low power 0.13-micron CMOS process technology, and both are ideal for higher levels of integration into application-specific ICs (ASICs) or switching fabrics where further reductions can be realized in the form of power, space, and cost savings over discrete solutions. "These 0.13-micron CMOS chips extend Broadcom's leadership in high-speed SerDes technology," said Robert A. Rango, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Network Infrastructure Business Unit. "Our latest designs will support customers who need standard SerDes products as well as customers who want to integrate these SerDes devices with their own proprietary IP into larger CMOS products such as switches or application-specific ICs." Broadcom Corp.